PREVIEW: Giants Kick Off Home-and-Home in Kelowna on Friday

PHOTO BY: ROB WILTON

Kelowna, B.C. – The Vancouver Giants (17-23-2-0) look to make up ground on the Kelowna Rockets (20-19-2-0) on Friday night, who are currently one spot and six points ahead of them in the Western Conference standings.

The Giants have had a week off following their season-high five game road trip to the Prairies, where the team went 3-2.

The Rockets last played on Wednesday on home ice, in what was a 5-4 defeat to the Portland Winterhawks.

This is the first of two straight meetings this weekend, as the clubs will also face off at the Langley Events Centre on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.

The Giants currently sit in 7th place in the Western Conference standings, while the Rockets sit in 6th.

HOW TO TUNE IN Date | Time  Friday, January 19 | 7:05 pm PT Place Prospera Place, Kelowna, B.C. Video Stream watch.chl.ca Listen Sportsnet 650 | Pre-Game begins at 6 p.m. Live Stats Click Here Social Media Twitter | Facebook  | Instagram | TikTok

LAST TIME OUT

The Moose Jaw Warriors’ power play struck three times on Saturday night in a 7-2 win over the Vancouver Giants at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.

Despite the loss, Vancouver still ended their five-game East Division road trip with a successful 3-2 record.

Vancouver got goals from Ty Halaburda (15th, PPG) and Will Subject (1st career WHL goal). The Warriors out-shot the Giants 48-25.

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP

This is the third of eight head-to-head meetings this season.

The Rockets won the first two contests, edging Vancouver 6-5 on home ice on October 21 and then blanking them 4-0 at the LEC on December 1.

Vancouver’s power play was very effective on their road trip, converting in each of the five games and going 6-for-15 overall (40%). They also won every game they scored first in. Although goal scoring has been hard to come by as a team overall (averaging just 2.86 goals for per game), the Giants have scored 23 goals in six games in the new year, which is 3.83 per game.

One player to watch from the Giants is forward Ty Halaburda, who is coming off another multi-point performance last game (1G-1A). The Victoria product has seven points (3G-4A) in six games since the calendar changed over to 2024. He has now equalled his point total from last season (37) in 24 less games.

The Rockets lost nine games in a row from Oct. 27 – Nov. 18, but since then have gone 13-7-0-0. In their last five games, they are 2-3. The Rockets rank 17th in the WHL in goals against per game, averaging 3.93.

One player to watch from the Rockets is Andrew Cristall, who is riding a league-high 22-game point streak, with 43 points during that span (16G-27A). He also has seven points (2G-5A) in the two head-to-head games against Vancouver so far this season.

TALE OF THE TAPE

VANCOUVER	STAT	KELOWNA
17-23-2-0 (36 Pts)	RECORD	20-19-2-0 (42 Pts)
4th	DIV. RANK	3rd
7th	CONF. RANK	6th
5-5-0-0	PAST 10	6-4-0-0
1L	STREAK	1L
8-10-2-0	HOME	13-6-1-0
9-13-0-0	AWAY	7-13-1-0
120 (2.86 – 20th)	GF (/G)	149 (3.63 – 11th)
163 (3.88 – 16th)	GA (/G)	161 (3.93 – 17th)
31-for-142 (21.8%)	PP%	36-for-164 (22.0%)
145-for-185 (78.4%)	PK%	110-for-161 (68.3%)
Lipinski (12-26-38) Halaburda (15-22-37) Thorpe (20-15-35)	LEADERS	Cristall (26-45-71) Szturc (21-33-54) Iginla (28-23-51)

SEASON SERIES VS. KELOWNA (0-2-0; 8 H2H)